I've never used Java. I'm just wondering out loud, and I'm curious if Common Lisp is a good fit for web-based and networking applications - if it has some intrinsic advantages over other languages in that area.

Yeah I really hope so, they are doing some really cool things with Shen. I haven't had the luxury of time to spend playing with it, but I can imagine the power of a lisp transcompiler. I've always loved transcompiled languages because I think it's a step towards the future in terms of eliminating boundaries between programmers.